Teacher Knowledge and Classroom Practice: Examining the Connection

This paper extends existing research regarding content knowledge for teaching (CKT) and role it plays in advancing student learning. Two teachers (with high and low measured CKT) are observed on the same day teaching similar content. Many studies have recently been published linking student achievement to teacher’s CKT and many U.S. schools have begun including CKT measures in teacher hiring and retention decisions. Teaching observed for this study illustrates that content can be taught effectively by teachers across the spectrum of CKT levels, but observable and significant differences in teaching leads to important questions for inservice and preservice teacher educators

Higher-Order Simulations: Strategic Investment Under Model-Induced Price Patterns

The trading and investment decision processes in financial markets become ever more dependent on the use of valuation and risk models. In the case of risk management for instance, modelling practice has become quite homogeneous and the question arises as to the effect this has on the price formation process. Furthermore, sophisticated investors who have private information about the use and characteristics of these models might be able to make superior gains in such an environment. The aim of this article is to test this hypothesis in a stylised market, where a strategic investor trades on information about the valuation and risk management models used by other market participants. Simulation results show that under certain market conditions, such a \'higher-order\' strategy generates higher profits than standard fundamental and momentum strategies that do not draw on information about model use.Financial Markets, Multi-Agent Simulation, Performativity, Higher-Order Strategies

My Rescue In A Dark World

My Rescue In A Dark World A NARRATIVE By Barbara Diana Gilbert It is with Pride, Honor and Dignity that I salute you. You Gallant Man – Strong Man - Man of High Esteem. You seemed to have been placed strategically in my life at every turn – teaching, molding and preparing me for what was to be my assignment in this life. The roads were long and weary. There was danger on every side but I kept reaching for your guiding hand. You never let me fall; you constantly reached out for me – making sure that I kept my stance. It seems almost like Divine Intervention that you positioned me on the learning end. You seemed destined to tutor me – determined to teach me the ropes in a world where my own earthly father failed me. I was humbled to be your student. I know my earthly father is looking down from heaven with pride and admiration. I realized so many years later how much I missed his love, his teaching and his understanding to shape me into the woman I am today, however, you did it. I can never repay you; I can never thank you enough. Now I must take the baton and move forward blessing others in my wake – telling them that they can do it; they can stand strong against all odds - that the sky is the limit for there is beauty and grace because there is life and hope. From the depths of Barbara Diana Gilbert Spoken Word Poet, Author of Spiritual Journey Of A Chil

The Effects of Social Status and Learning on Captive Coyote (\u3ci\u3eCanis latrans\u3c/i\u3e) Behavior

Many canids live within hierarchical social systems that could promote differences in learning or in behavior between ranked individuals. Differences in foraging and territorial behavior have been observed between ranked coyotes (Canis latrans), yet effects of learning and social status on coyote behavior are not thoroughly understood. I explored a) coyote response to an artificial scent boundary and whether response differed by status, b) how foraging coyotes tracked temporal resource change, and c) how coyotes find spatially distributed food, and the effect of dominance on foraging behavior. I used male/female pairs of captive coyotes at the National Wildlife Research Center Predator Research Facility in Utah. Prior to testing, I identified social rank within pairs by testing for food dominance. In study 1, I laid a scent boundary and monitored space use with GPS and observed behavioral responses directly. All coyotes investigated and crossed the boundary, but were repelled more by human presence. Subordinates investigated and marked the boundary more than dominants. Further investigation is needed to mimic natural boundaries for management purposes. In study 2, I gave eight individual coyotes an operant test with concurrent variable interval (VI) schedules. I varied the ratio of resources and measured the time spent on two choices, then fitted the generalized matching equation to the data. I found that all coyotes efficiently tracked changes in resource ratios and matched their relative rate of foraging time to relative rate of resources. Matching theory provides an effective methodology to explore foraging strategies and behavioral flexibility in coyotes. In study 3, I tested 16 coyotes in a spatial foraging task. Coyotes searched for food in eight potential locations, and were tested individually and in respective pairs. I recorded the area and number of locations searched, approach time, and frequency of marking by dominant and subordinate coyotes. Results showed individual subordinates increased efficiency by relocating, but their efficiency decreased when foraging in pairs. Dominant coyotes did not increase efficiency in company by following subordinates. Coyotes marked the correct feeder more than incorrect feeders. Results suggest coyotes use memory and odor (scent marks) to find food, but that social status overrules information use

Faculty and Student Perceptions and Behaviours Related to Information Literacy: A Pilot Study Using Triangulation

This pilot study was developed to determine if the University’s students were proficient in IL based on the requisite skills defined by ALA (2000), to define faculty and student perceptions and behaviours related to information literacy (IL) and to test an evaluation rubric using empirical inquiry and triangulated methods. Findings suggested that not all students (n=164) had satisfactory IL skills even at the senior student level. While 4th year college students (seniors n=91) fared better on an IL survey when compared to 1st year college students (freshmen n=53), analysis of the senior students’ theses led researchers to believe that students were most likely not skilled in this area, and had an inflated opinion of their own IL abilities. Overall, students felt they were less IL challenged compared to the faculty’s (n=55) observation of the IL challenges experienced by the students. Students’ self-assessment of their literacy skills may have been coloured by the propensity of the faculty to over-edit students’ papers rather than simply providing constructive feedback, thus altering the natural end result. These authors used a triangulated approach including thesis review, comparisons between student and faculty survey responses and comparison of findings from the theses and the student and faculty surveys. Findings and discussion of methodology will hopefully provide valuable lessons for those interested in assessing students’ IL

Small-molecule antibiotic drug development:need and challenges

The need for new antibiotics is urgent. Antimicrobial resistance is rising, although currently many more people die from drug-sensitive bacterial infections. The continued evolution of drug resistance is inevitable, fuelled by pathogen population size and exposure to antibiotics. Additionally, opportunistic pathogens will always pose a threat to vulnerable patients whose immune systems cannot efficiently fight them, even if they are sensitive to available antibiotics according to clinical microbiology tests. These problems are intertwined and will worsen as human populations age, increase in density, and experience disruptions such as war, extreme weather events, or declines in standard of living. The development of appropriate drugs to treat all the world’s bacterial infections should be a priority and future success will likely require combinations of multiple approaches. However, the highest burden of bacterial infection is in Low- and Middle-Income Countries where limited medical infrastructure is a major challenge. For effectively managing infections in these contexts, small-molecule-based treatments offer significant advantages. Unfortunately, support for ongoing small-molecule antibiotic discovery has recently suffered from significant challenges related to both the scientific difficulties in treating bacterial infections and to market barriers. Nevertheless, small-molecule antibiotics remain essential and irreplaceable tools for fighting infections, and efforts to develop novel and improved versions deserve ongoing investment. Here, we first describe the global historical context of antibiotic treatment, then highlight some of the challenges surrounding small-molecule development and potential solutions. Many of these challenges are likely to be common to all modalities of antibacterial treatment and should be addressed directly

Reconciling surveillance systems with limited resources: an evaluation of passive surveillance for rabies in an endemic setting

Surveillance systems for rabies in endemic regions are often subject to severe constraints in terms of resources. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) propose the use of an active surveillance system to substantiate claims of disease freedom, including rabies. However, many countries do not have the resources to establish active surveillance systems for rabies and the testing of dead dogs poses logistical challenges. This paper explores the potential of using a scenario tree model parameterised with data collected via questionnaires and interviews to estimate the sensitivity of passive surveillance, assessing its potential as a viable low-cost alternative to active surveillance systems. The results of this explorative study illustrated that given a large enough sample size, in this case the entire population of Colombo City, the sensitivity of passive surveillance can be 100% even at a low disease prevalence (0.1%), despite the low sensitivity of individual surveillance components (mean values in the range 4.077×10(-5)-1.834×10(-3) at 1% prevalence). In addition, logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with increased recognition of rabies in dogs and reporting of rabies suspect dogs. Increased recognition was observed amongst dog owners (OR 3.8 (CI, 1.3-10.8)), people previously bitten by dogs (OR 5.9 (CI, 2.2-15.9)) and people who believed they had seen suspect dogs in the past (OR 4.7 (CI, 1.8-12.9)). Increased likelihood of reporting suspect dogs was observed amongst dog owners (OR 5.3 (CI, 1.1-25)). Further work is required to validate the data collection tool and the assumptions made in the model with respect to sample size in order to develop a robust methodology for evaluating passive rabies surveillance